The opening race of the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Season started off on the streets of St. Petersburg with polesitter Will Power putting his traditional mark on the field.

The Aussie led away from the start, pulling out an 11-second lead by Lap 18, but then things started to get very, very interesting.

A crash on cold tires by Dario Franchitti on Lap 19 brought out the first caution of the day, and when the race resumed on Lap 32, Power’s Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves–the defending race winner–served notice he wasn’t going down without a fight.

Three-time defending champion Sebastian Vettel held off Red Bull teammate Mark Webber in a scintillating battle to win the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday, with the German later apologizing for ignoring team instructions late in the race.

Vettel, who had earlier complained to the team about Webber’s slow pace, battled the Australian for much of the day, with the cars almost touching as the German grabbed the lead on the 46th lap for his 27th victory, which matches the total of three-time champion Jackie Stewart. The German now leads Lotus driver Kimi Raiikonen by nine points in the championship.

Kimi Raikkonen says that his amazing Australian GP victory came easily after he was the only top runner to make a two-stop strategy work.

Raikkonen started seventh and made his first stop at the same time as his main rivals, but a long second stint with the medium tire got him into the lead and guaranteed that he only needed to stop once more.